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Yoshino Kumano NP, Wakayama
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Each February 6, around 2,000 white-robed participants carry sacred-flame torches down these 538 steps. Shingu’s folk song calls the fiery rush “a waterfall of fire” and a “descending dragon.”
Beside the stairway entrance stands a stone marker telling visitors to dismount. In 1672, a pilgrim from Ōshū named Ōshirogane Yohei Morimichi donated it to commemorate his 7th pilgrimage to the Kumano Three Shrines.
Before climbing for the festival, participants traditionally purified themselves and dressed all in white—even eating a white-only meal of rice, tofu, fishcake and pickles. The color marked ritual preparation.
These steps climb to Kamikura, Kumano-Hayatama Taisha’s original sanctuary. When its deities were enshrined at a new site, that place was called Shingu (“new shrine”)—the name the city still bears.
Near the sacred rock above the steps, researchers found fragments of a bronze bell dated to the 3rd century and numerous Buddhist sutra mounds, mainly from the 12th century—a long record of sacred use.
“Gotobiki” means “toad” in the Kumano dialect, a nod to the giant boulder’s frog-like shape. This natural rock—not a carved image—is Kamikura Shrine’s sacred object at the top of the steps.
The shrine identifies this cliff as “Amano-Iwatate,” named in the Nihon Shoki’s account of Emperor Jimmu reaching Kumano and climbing a heavenly rock-ridge. These steps follow that sacred ascent.
The 538 steps are rough natural stones stacked in a style called “Kamakura-zumi,” not uniform cut blocks. Local tradition credits Minamoto no Yoritomo with donating the approach.
More than a spectacle, the descent welcomes New Year’s sacred fire into local homes: traditionally, the flame carried down these steps relit household altars and kitchen hearths. The festival once fell on lunar New Year.
The celebration continues at the mountain’s foot on February 7: a goma fire rite and fire-walking are followed by shared zenzai (sweet red-bean soup) and mochi scattering.
